Applying for citizenship
Apply for Canadian citizenship: do you meet every condition?
Enter your credited days, the tax years you filed, your age and whether you hold a language result: the measurable conditions are checked at once.
Can I apply for citizenship yet?
Measurable conditions
Met
| 1,095 days of presence | yes |
| Taxes filed 3 years of 5 (if required) | yes |
| Language proof | yes |
You must also hold PR status with no outstanding issues and not be under a prohibition.
To apply for Canadian citizenship as an adult, you face six conditions, and all but the test must already be met on the day before you sign the application, not on the day IRCC opens it. First, valid permanent resident status with no unfulfilled conditions. Second, 1,095 days of physical presence in the 5 years before signing, including at least 730 days as a permanent resident; each earlier day as a temporary resident or protected person is worth half a day, capped at 365 days of credit. Third, income tax returns for at least 3 of those 5 years if the Income Tax Act required you to file. Fourth, if you are 18 to 54, proof of CLB/NCLC 4 in speaking and listening. Fifth, at the same ages, a pass on the citizenship test after you apply. Sixth, no prohibition: no current sentence, parole or probation, no pending charge for an indictable offence, no such conviction in the past 4 years, no removal order, and no refusal for misrepresentation in the past 5 years. Time in prison, on parole or on probation does not count as presence either.
Questions, counts and fees by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How questions and dates are built
The six conditions at a glance
| Condition | Rule | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Status | permanent resident, no unfulfilled conditions | everyone |
| Physical presence | 1,095 days in 5 years, 730 as a PR | adults |
| Taxes | 3 years of 5, if a return was required | adults |
| Language | CLB/NCLC 4, speaking and listening | ages 18 to 54 |
| Test | 20 questions, 15 to pass | ages 18 to 54 |
| Prohibitions | none applies | everyone |
The calculator above checks the three conditions that can be counted. Status and prohibitions are questions of fact that only your own file answers, which is why the result always reminds you of them.
Physical presence: the condition that decides the date
For most people the date of application is set by the days, not by the rest. IRCC looks at the 5 years that end the day before you sign. Each day spent in Canada as a permanent resident counts as one. Each day spent here before that, with a work permit, a study permit, as a visitor or as a protected person, counts as half, with a ceiling of 365 days of credit. For a protected person, that earlier time runs only from the day protection was granted. A day partly spent in Canada, such as the day you fly out or come back, is a day present.
Three kinds of days do not count at all: days in prison, on parole and on probation. The opposite exception concerns Crown servants posted abroad (Canadian Armed Forces, the federal public administration or a provincial public service, unless locally engaged) and their spouse, partner or child: each day abroad counts in full, through a paper application with form CIT 0177. The day-by-day calculator turns your trips into a date and the page on permanent resident days explains the 730-day floor.
Taxes, language and test
The tax condition depends on whether the law obliged you to file; the tax filing page goes into it. Language proof is only asked of applicants aged 18 to 54 when they sign, and only for speaking and listening; the language page lists the accepted proof. The test comes later, once IRCC has the application, and our mock test uses the same format.
Situations that prevent citizenship
- Serving a sentence in Canada (prison, parole, probation) or a sentence abroad.
- Being charged with, on trial for or appealing an indictable offence or an offence under the Citizenship Act, in Canada or the foreign equivalent abroad.
- A conviction for such an offence in the 4 years before applying.
- An investigation or conviction for war crimes or crimes against humanity.
- As a permanent resident, a conviction for terrorism, treason, high treason or spying, or service in an armed force or group engaged in armed conflict with Canada.
- A removal order.
- A refusal for misrepresentation in the past 5 years, or citizenship revoked for fraud in the past 10 years.
The wording above summarizes IRCC’s list of situations that may prevent citizenship; the legal text is in the Citizenship Act. When one item applies, wait until it no longer does before you pay the fee, since an ineligible application is not a cheap way to find out.
Next step
When every line is green, move to the application itself: forms, documents and the date you sign. Keep your presence calculation and your signature on the same day so the two match.